October is set to be the stage for one of Miami’s most unique music festivals in recent history. Boasting a roster that includes Barclay Crenshaw, Richie Hawtin, Kaytranada, the xx, and the first South Florida performance from the Gorillaz, everything is slated to make this year’s III Points Music Festival the event of the year. Even if they felt they could add a handful of other names, who else could they fit on this already stacked lineup?

The festival answers this question with a bunch of new acts that have just been added to perform Friday, October 13 to Sunday, October 15. This includes Arthur Baker, Julio Victoria, Pumarosa, Monolink, Jonas Rathsman, and Perfume Genius along with local acts Anshaw Black, Jaialai, Paperwater, Tremends, and Ynot. However, the biggest addition to the roster comes in the form of a unexpected, back-to-back DJ set bringing together pop-funk star Mark Ronson and Tame Impala’s frontman Kevin Parker. Although the two have worked together on Ronson’s last album Uptown Special (2015) and Lady Gaga’s Joanne (2016), this will be a special set that very few venues across the world have witnessed including Glastonbury in the United Kingdom, Corona Capital in Mexico, and Governor’s Ball in New York.

With these additions, the headliners, and more performances from the likes of Lil B, Thundercat, Rüfüs Du Sol, Bonobo, and more, III Points have positioned themselves as the “it” place to be come October.

Paris & Simo ft. Karen Harding

by Charlotte Vosbeck

Today, the well-known duo from Montreal, Paris and Simo, drop a brand new track in collaboration with Karen Harding, an established UK house singer. The track is called ‘Come As You Are’ and is being released on Physical Presents. The duo is known for upbeat house music tracks usually coupled with a female vocalist. This track is consistent with their usual style but the group adds a little bit of a funky beat to this track. Karen Harding’s unique voice adds extra depth to this track and we can’t get enough of it!

It’s been a couple of months since we’ve heard a new original from Paris and Simo so we are so excited to get some new music from them! The duo has previously toured all across the globe with artists like David Guetta. They’ve also released tracks on several different labels including Revealed, Spinnin’, Armada, and Ministry of Sound. Karen Harding also has an impressive resume as well. She’s worked with artists MNEK, Giorgio Moroder and Wilkinson. Her debut single ‘Say Something’ on Method Records proved to be a hit.

This brand new single embraces the EDM festival culture for people to “come as they are”. It’s fun and funky and just what you need to get your day started.

Michael Tullberg has been a prominent figure in the rave and electronic dance scene since its origins back in the early 90’s. His photographs have been used to define the scene in various publications and in his last book Dancefloor Thunderstorm. His latest book is The Raver Stories Project is a collection of stories from different periods of the rave scene told by various fixtures of the rave community.

As a photographer, in your last book Dancefloor Thunderstorm, you focus on letting your picture tell the story of rave culture. Why did you decide words were needed this time around?

Well, I’d been working on “Dancefloor Thunderstorm” for four years. I’d been living, eating, breathing and sleeping that photo book, so the truth is, I needed a break from photos! (laughs) What I really wanted to do was tell the larger story of the rave scene through a series of individual stories, and for that I needed more input, from outside sources…meaning other ravers and such. The people whose voices have historically been overlooked by the mainstream media….one of the reasons why I wrote “Dancefloor Thunderstorm”, and the primary reason behind putting together “The Raver Stories Project”—to give those least represented in the rave scene a voice, and demonstrate to the rest of the world that the rave scene is not some terrible, frightening underworld.

What was your ploy to get the writer’s to tell you their stories?

My “ploy”? Jeez, you make it sound so underhanded! There was no “ploy”. All I really did was remind them of the fact that the scene that they loved so much had historically been given short shrift by the media…. I knew that every raver has at least one story in them, about why the rave scene means so much to them. One story is long enough to tell something good, and short enough so that the story authors could focus on them without being intimidated by the prospect of writing an entire book by themselves.

Did you end up with more stories than you had room for?

I did, and I had to narrow things down…that’s what an editor does, after all. I felt the need to keep the book down to a reasonable size, because after a certain number of stories, you run the risk of your book becoming repetitive. There were some submissions that were incomplete, some others that were a bit less than coherent, and a few that were just not a good match for the project. Fortunately, it proved to be not too difficult to whittle things down to thirty stories, which is enough to keep things interesting, I think.

What I think a lot of people that are new to the EDM scene don’t realize is just how hard and adventurous it was to find these raves. It seems like the uncovering of it was a big part of the experience….

Oh, it definitely was. The map point wasn’t just a way to throw off the police, it was a teaser for the ravers as well. It was one example of the interactive nature of raves, where the fans had to be proactive in finding out where the gig was. It wasn’t just served up to them on a platter, or on the Internet. You’d have to call the info line just before the party was supposed to start, because that was when they’d post the directions to the map point. The thing is, sometimes the map points were in pretty sketchy areas of town—but then again, so were some of the parties! Then when you found the map point, you had to play it cool. You couldn’t be just another frat boy douchebag, because otherwise you might not get the map.

Then when you finally made it to the party, there was often a real feeling of accomplishment. You’d gone through the scavenger hunt, and now here you were in this special, secret place, with other people who were just as big fans of the music as you were. The anticipation was sometimes so high, you couldn’t wait to party, or to see what other off-the-wall people were going to show up.

Did the internet kill that part of it or was it more about the scene becoming more legit?

A bit of both. The Internet definitely made it easier (and cheaper!) to promote a party online, so that was a factor. The ability to get word about a party on your smartphone means that the system has become a bit more flexible. There’s no need to hit the record store any more to get the fliers with the info lines on it, you can get all the data on Eventbrite or Facebook. As a result, the underground thing has been lost a bit.

The other part of it, as you suggest in your question, is that much of the scene has migrated out of its underground beginnings and has found its way into the mainstream, either in the clubs or in festivals. I mean, EDC has its own app—that shows you how far things have come.

Do you have a favorite story or one that you like to call out?

My favorite stories tend to rotate. One of them is actually in “The Raver Stories Project” – it’s about a 1998 desert rave called “Dune 4”, which was held wayyyyy out in the middle of nowhere near the California/Arizona border. I particularly remember this event because at around midnight, a huge sandstorm whipped up and blasted its way through the party. I’m talking about winds up to 60 MPH, which was more than just a mild annoyance. Christopher Lawrence was spinning at the time, and his tone arms were being blown all over the place, so they had to tape stacks of quarters onto the arm so the needle would stay on the record. The problem was, Christopher was spinning with a lot of acetates that night, so a bunch of his records ended up being totally destroyed by the sand that was ground into them.

What is it about the rave scene that made it so personally influential?

….for me, it was the all-embracing nature of the rave scene that drew me in—along with the enormously high quality of music, of course. I had had my fill of the preening Hollywood VIP thing, and I really liked the fact that the 90’s rave scene did away with that. I respected that the rave scene was inclusive, rather than exclusive. At its best, it removed so many social barriers, like race, class, social status and sexuality. It just tossed them out the window, for it had no use for them. There was really only one criterion: did you like the music? If the answer was yes, then boom, you were in, and you were under no obligation to be a Kandi Raver, either… You could be whoever or whatever you wanted to be in the rave scene, without fear of ridicule or reprisal.

It was, in the words of the old Mixology motto, celebrating life through dance. How you did that was totally up to you. Of course, most chose to be very silly in one way or another.

5150 is dedicated to putting out material about the most interesting and unusual aspects of pop culture. At present, that means the electronic music world, but that could easily expand, given the right subject matter. The next book in the pipeline is likely a book of my DJ portraits, which will be a photo book like “Dancefloor Thunderstorm”. After that, there’s a bunch of ideas in the pipeline, so who knows?

Say goodbye to bandanas and dust-filled lungs, because even though this fest is held in desert-surrounded Palm Springs, the organizers essentially picked up all the good parts of a music festival and plopped them down poolside. Produced by Goldenvoice, the event is held twice a summer – one weekend in June and another in August. And to be honest, I’d recommend you attend both because once just isn’t enough.

If you live anywhere in the vicinity of SoCal, you don’t even need to take off work to attend. Friday night, after our surprisingly short road trip over to Palm Springs from LA – post-work – we arrived to find Palm Springs taken over by colorful banners in the sky and the buzz of vacation in the air. We beelined it to pick up our wristbands, our room keys and rolled on into our room at the Riviera, ready to start the night. After all, we had no time to waste given the first of the weekend festivities were about to begin: After Hours at the Air Museum.

We shuttled on over to the Air Hangar to find the coolest venue I’ve quite possibly ever seen. Surrounded by actual airplanes, the bars and stage were tucked away under the night sky (yes, outdoors). Sounds from Klatch, Elderbrook and then Sofi Tukker filled the venue with a great crowd to match. Crowded enough for anyone to let loose and dance, but not too crowded to breathe. A seemingly unanimous opinion? Everyone couldn’t wait for Bob Moses to take the stage. And he didn’t disappoint.

Though Friday turned into quite the late night, we were up and ready to go Saturday morning. Our wish list of acts to see was not short – Splash House consistently has one of the most high-quality lineups, catching some of the most talented artists right before they blow up. We kicked off our day at the Riviera, hearing vibey beats from the likes of Flamingosis, Vindaya and Jay Prince. It was hard to drag us away, but we were on a mission to catch Gigamesh at the Renaissance, so we hopped on a shuttle and went on over.

The Renaissance is the big man on campus of the three pools – the giant pool is complemented by a dance floor right in front of the main stage as well as a bottle service section. (Note to self: Have my bachelorette party at Splash House.) It’s a fairly large space and the beats are loud enough for all to hear, but not too loud you can’t have a conversation – and the level of friendliness from the attendees at Splash House is way beyond any other festival I’ve been to, so you’ll have a few!

Gigamesh, ‘Master of the Remix’ – check. Croatia Squad, ‘Tech-House Badass’ – check. Justin Jay, ‘Meteoric Infectiously Groovy Raver’ – check. Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs, ‘(Finally!) Resurrected Fan Favorite’ – check. Then I get a text informing me that Justin Jay would be taking over a hotel room at the Renaissance, um yes please. Unfortunately it eventually got broken up by hotel security…but it was oh-so-fun while it lasted.

After daylonging in the sun and 110+ degree heat all day (which I totally forgot about given the pool access), I will admit to slight defeat and did not make it to the Air Museum again that night for round two of After Hours. However, I heard great things about James Murphy’s five-hour set going B2B with Lovefingers.

Waking up Sunday, I was ready to go. This time, we wanted to check out the Saguaro. Each hotel brings something new to the table, and the Saguaro was no exception. With 50% of the balconies facing pool side, you walk in and are literally surrounded by the party. Jamie Prado, Bones, and Eli & Fur kicked off the day and managed to kick even the most hungover of people into gear.

Splash House also provides some of the most premium people-watching opportunities. Between the swimsuits, the costumes, the themed balcony ragers, and best of all the floaties – there’s something interesting every way you look.

Before we left for the Renaissance we had one more set to catch at the Saguaro: Desert Hearts. Oh man, did they have a good set. The PLUR was real.

Pool hopping is surprisingly easier than one might expect, given the regularly running free shuttles – plus it’s an amazing reset button as you’re gifted with ice cold water bottles from Splash House staff as you get on the bus.

We had such a good time at the Renaissance yesterday that we just had to go back. We caught the end of The Him and SNBRN. Though it was hard to leave, we were on a mission: getting back to the Riviera to close out the festival with Big Gigantic.

And here we arrive at my number one set I was looking forward to all weekend. Now, I’ve seen Big G a few times in my day, but absolutely nothing compares to their Sunday set at Splash House. With the Riviera pool practically touching the DJ booth, we had prime spots right in the front of the crowd – in the pool, of course. Big Gigantic always puts on a good set, but there was something special about this one. A combination of the enthusiastic attendees, the sun setting behind the pool, it felt like it was an intimate concert being put on at a summer backyard pool party surrounded by friends. It was a perfect summation of a perfect weekend.